Feels like its all hands on deck for all companies once fall gets in swing. Pretty much every guy I like (subjective) is employed somewhere and now has a stake in their performance going forward while also being paid well. As an old head who remembers taping nitro in one room on a worn out vhs while watching raw (or vice versa), im pretty stoked about the mere prospect of being able to switch from one channel to another on cable tv and see two different wrestling shows on. Nostalgia and all that.

Also,

pretty much every guy on top right now in any company was someone I watched on the indies. I want all these guys and ladies to win and get paid and be able to showcase their talents to a wide audience.

whatever, im stoked about wrestling right now, and im not "picking teams" as it were.

Justin Credible - Thu, 12 Sep 2019 02:41:23 EST VsqIuhiUNo.6295391 Reply Yeah, the only companies REALLY going down the shitter are LOLWWE and LOLROH. Every other company seems to be on the up and up so it should be interesting to see if it leads to anything substantial in a couple of months or if it's just another fad.

>AEW is about to launch the biggest wrestling show outside of WWE since Spike TV TNA>New Japan is more profitable than ever and its popularity is costantly increasing by the year>making a living out of indie wrestling alone has become a realistic career choice for a wrestler>all lucha libre is generally very healthy >Impact and MLW are tv companies on the rise and who knows where the future will take them>the NWA is getting revived and (allegedly) is in talks for a big tv/internet service debut >smaller japanese companies are starting to get bigger crowds and more international fanbases too

other than WWE ratings plummeting and no one caring about ROH things seem to be doing very wellmaybe there's not gonna be a proper boom yet anytime soon but i'd say things are not so bad for the industry

as wwe ratings go, so does the industry (to a dagree only because its the only real measuring stick in the last 15 or so years)

i currently have njpw, aew, and (had) wwe tickets purchased. i live on the east coast. i live near two different local promotions that have a small but decent following, good story continuity, and fun crowds. real cheap. im seriously swimming in wrestling of all different styles currently. its all better than its ever been in my life.

pipe dream incoming: if all the american companies had their own belts but also had a nwa style cooperation with other companies, id be invested in watching it all. AAA and NJPW are making plays. with (extremely farfetched) cooperation, there could legitimately be a "World" champion.

im drunk and rambling but goddamn, if all the small pieces got together, it could make wwe seem like small time kiddie shit while all the rest of the interlocking companies can really get some compelling shit in.

Teddy Long - Thu, 12 Sep 2019 05:22:57 EST 9Y7GPYRANo.6295414 Reply AEW is finally trying to dust off the "only enjoyed by racist hicks and redhats" image that wrestling has had for over hundred years. AEW is going to bring wrestling into reality with their amazing, diverse roster of various talents and brilliant five star matches, as well as characters who the oppressed can relate to in a post-Nick Gage America where everything can and WILL kill them.

If there is one company that can bring the new boom period, it's AEW, they know exactly what they are doing.

The Weedman - Thu, 12 Sep 2019 09:42:02 EST fJ32mba5No.6295458 Reply >>6295455Never's a long time. A lot would depend on the nature of WWE's death, I'd think, just in regards of how the fallout of it would potentially poison the well for those remaining. Fortunately the state of the industry is in a good position to survive it no matter how bad WWE were to bomb.

P.N. News - Thu, 12 Sep 2019 11:08:25 EST GXHNtkkwNo.6295467 Reply >>6295455the shithole of USA wrestling would probably go through a rough patch but the rest of the world has given minimal fucks about lolwwe for the entirety of history and won't start now

Once the geek culture fad ends, wrestling will look a lot different in America. WWE used to make fun of the nerds, but once wrestling stopped being cool they started to depend on them. They'd already be suffering if Triple H hadn't started to sign and push all these indie guys. There's still some kids watching, but most kids these days care way more about Fortnite and TikTok. For the most part, kids don't really give a fuck about old stuff that we grew up with, like comics and wrestling. WWE depends almost entirely on obese 30 year olds now. Triple H has done a masterful job of shifting the direction of the product to cater to these people. He truly understands man children and geek culture. The story of Triple H fighting to take away the biggest promotion in the world from the evil Vince McMahon just so that he can turn it into a dream match promotion is the average wrestling fan's wet dream. The "WWE is family" marketing is genius, because these people's lives revolve around nostalgia and most of them haven't made families of their own. They're kids at heart and love the fantasy that Triple H is like a father figure not just to all the NXT wrestlers, but to them as well. Everything that WWE has done to aim their product at these diehard wrestling fans has been genius, and AEW is proving to be pretty damn good at it so far too. Clearly AEW is even MORE dependent on these people tuning in.

But what happens when the man children finally grow up? The economy is gong to change, fashion is going to change, and fads are going to change. What happens when the Pop Vinyl toys lose all their value and adults stop wearing Hot Topic shirts? That's like 80 percent of the wrestling fanbase in the US. Japan and Mexico probably won't see much change, but in the USA and UK, it will be catastrophic. There's no way both WWE and AEW will be able to exist as we know them today. There will be significantly less indie wrestling. All of the WrestleMania weekend stuff will end. No more Starrcast. All these weird novelty indie shows like cosplaying and gay themed wrestling will be the first to go. I just don't see any of this lasting much longer.

Currently the only promotions/wrestlers still going strong right now are ones that are good at the merch table. The fanbase of the UK independent scene (what's left of it anyway) appear to be people convinced that certain wrestlers are their 'friends' after handing over £20 to them for the latest edition of their t shirt.

This is why the scene is slowly on its way downward. The up-and-coming wrestlers that are getting booked on major promotions aren't anyone special but their mediocrity is looked over because they have a fanbase willing to defend them despite being no where near as good as anyone that was on the scene only 5 years ago despite being in the same position and having wrestled as long as them.

Hector Guerrero - Thu, 12 Sep 2019 14:47:56 EST fXIUu40fNo.6295558 Reply >>6295499You know that some of theae "man children" have families and real jobs. Its sad but true. To be a real diehard WWE fan is something i can never wrap my head around though

Antonio Honda - Thu, 12 Sep 2019 17:37:16 EST 0ia2DwE9No.6295631 Reply i think one of the things that a boom period necessitate is a dramatic spike in new viewership and i just dont think thats gonna happen unless something gets white hot. WWE doesnt have anyone that seems like they could light the business up, AEW will probably bring back some lapsed fans but im doubtful so far it will be enough to massively move the needle...i dont think youre gonna get a lot of back n forth channel switching now because consuming media through other means is easier than it was 23 years ago. Wrestling will be enjoyable to the people watching it but as a broader pop phenomenon i doubt it

>we don't usually get more depraved, in this aspect of it — even if you think that in the match is a ton of impact to crown first MLW wrestler participating in a drug free powerlifting meet placing first in his way, they scream or pitchfork a zombie's head completely off the hook for the greed part, only for meals and a former WWE star.

Baby Boomer thirty-somethings continued to cling to the things they liked as teenagers. When they became sixty-somethings, they clung to it harder. It's why AC/DC and the Stones are able to sell out arenas decades past their prime. People who were twenty/thirty during the Attitude Era are the main audience still eating WWE's shit.

Unless we all die to climate change or the stock market craters, the thirty-something manchildren will be even more likely to consume nostalgia as sixty-somethings. They've been bred as consumers, they'll have nothing to do and retirement money to burn, living their second adolescense. Some of these fuckers will breed and indoctrinate their children into their tastes.

Sojournor Bolt - Thu, 12 Sep 2019 23:45:03 EST HBLWC/LCNo.6295754 Reply >>6295660Bold of you to assume that anyone in the workforce now is ever going to be able to retire with the current direction the economy's going in.

Vince Russo - Thu, 12 Sep 2019 23:47:35 EST y73oDH6aNo.6295757 Reply >>6295499This kinda has hipster/pseudo-hipster written all over it. I think the self-worth is a bit overrated, but you can't say it without annoying someone on social media. Glad I don't do any of that-this is as close as I get.You're thinking marketing. It's not all a bunch of bearded 20-30 somethings who all wear "cool" black wrasslin' shirts at a show and do their best to get directly at the hard cam. "Look at me! I'm a Wrestling Fan! Hey! You're Not Looking At Me Enough" stuff. Maybe a form of signaling one's virtue.....maaayyybeee???There are a lot of fans who don'f teel need to go to public forums, they just like watching and going to shows when possible, screw having to fit in. This is basically the way it WAS in the territory days, and as then is still true today...

You don't have to have a show in a huge palace with >5k attendance....to put on a successful, and fun show.

Too much emphasis on bigger + more = better. People still attend, they still buy. rant done. more beer needed.

>wwe is liked by nerds and child>tna and roh are owned by big multimedia companies as a sideshow and aren't really the focus of those companies' interest>aew looks promising but is really just a cody road vanity project that is lucky to have the financial backing it has in CURRENT_YEAR. plus is basically following the pwg model of "let's not build new stars and just pay whoever we can find money" at the moment. fine for now but will mean problems later.>us indies are just a collective wwe dojo now>lucha remains as popular as it usually has been but doesnt seem to really be growing at all>puro companies relentlessly exploit horny catladies for cash, resulting in turnover every few years when said catladies get bored and find something else to horn about>britwres got all 2 of its good workers signed away by bassed hatch and now nobody cares about that failed territory>euro scene? what euro scene?>china? whooooops oriental wrestling entertainment missed another show date!!!

i am not so sure this indicates "boom period". but i might be wrong.

please note: these are just my opinions and are not the opinions of the website owners.

Tommy Dreamer - Fri, 13 Sep 2019 00:41:00 EST Jyafr0HSNo.6295768 Reply 1568349660039.jpg -(82295B / 80.37KB, 1280x720) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. GCW fucking rules and is badd to the bone. Has great talent, matches and spots. TJPW is on the other end and is pure. Has great psychology, story telling, and characters.

With these two promotions constantly growing, wrestling is on the up and up brother.

hungman page is a dude from njpw. nice that hes getting a push in aew though. for mjf you have a good point.

the post also says that it is "fine for now" that they arent getting in new talent. but in 4 years from now if its still The Codey And His Friends Show then that s when it will be a problem. for the time being i will giggle at the drunken title belt misplacements